George Floyd, who was murdered by a police officer, was infected with Covid-19
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The world's leading news agencies like Reuters and other media
report that the results of the autopsy confirm Covid - 19 in George Floyd 's body.
George Floyd, 46, whose fatal encounter with Minneapolis
police stirred a global outcry over racial bias by U.S. law enforcement, tested
positive for the coronavirus, his autopsy showed, but the infection was not
listed as a factor in his death.
The official cause of death, according to the full 20-page
report made public on Wednesday by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's
Office, was cardiopulmonary arrest while Floyd was being restrained by police
taking him into custody on May 25.
The coroner ruled the manner of death to be a homicide. Four
police officers since fired from their jobs for their role in the incident,
which was captured on a bystander's cellphone video, are being held on criminal
charges, one of them accused of murder.
The world after George
Floyd
The autopsy, in listing cardiopulmonary arrest as the cause
of Floyd's death, also cited "complicating law enforcement subdual,
restraint and neck compression."
The report listed several additional factors as "significant
conditions" contributing to Floyd's death, including heart disease, high
blood pressure and intoxication from the powerful opioid fentanyl, as well as
recent methamphetamine use.
The report further noted that a nasal swab sample collected
from Floyd's body came back positive for COVID-19, and that Floyd had also
tested positive on April 3, nearly eight weeks before his death.
The county's chief medical examiner, Dr. Andrew Baker,
concluded that the post mortem test result "most likely reflects asymptomatic
but persistent ... positivity from previous infection." There was no
indication in the autopsy report that coronavirus played any role in Floyd's
death.